Objective To investigate the value of Caprini risk assessment model in the screening for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients lying in bed in the department of neurosurgery.Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of the patients who were lying in bed and underwent VTE screening in the Department of Neurosurgery in our hospital from January 2010 to August 2017, including Caprini risk assessment model score and VTE risk grade. The Caprini score was compared between the patients with VTE and those without, and the incidence rate of VTE was compared between the patients with different VTE risk grades. A multivariate logistic regression model analysis was performed to investigate the association between VTE risk grade and the risk of VTE.Results The overall incidence rate of VTE was 5.4%, and the incidence rates of VTE in the low-, medium-, high-, and extremely high-risk groups were 0.9%, 1.9%, 4.8%, and 10.6%, respectively. The patients with VTE had a significantly higher Caprini score than those without[6 (3-7) vs 3 (2-5), Z=13.679, P<0.001]. The risks of VTE in the patients lying in bed with high and extremely high risks of VTE assessed by the Caprini risk assessment model were 3.228 and 12.705 times that in those with a low risk of VTE.Conclusions Caprini risk assessment model can be used to predict the risk of VTE during postoperative hospitalization in patients lying in bed in the department of neurosurgery, especially in patients with high and extremely high risks of VTE. Therefore, it holds promise for clinical application.